I'M IN LOVE...

...with a web camera!!!! Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, and a brilliant Christmas present from my parents, I was able to see my best friend and her husband face-to-face again!!!!!! Christina and Peter moved to Rochester, New York, last August, and we haven't seen each other since. Of course, we spend lots of time on the phone to compensate, but seeing her again with my own eyes was so much fun! I will be visiting them in July, so, until that time this is the next best thing to being in the same room together!

Give me a word, any word...

So I'm sitting in my room hard at work on revising chapter one. My goal was to have a workable draft ready by last night for submission to my adviser. (3 weeks ahead of schedule I might add) We have family coming over this afternoon to celebrate Seth's birthday, and I have plenty to do before they arrive. Yet, here I sit going over my chapter...let me amend that, I am dissecting my chapter paragraph by paragraph, agonizing over whether or not I am adequately expressing my argument and if the word I am using encapsulates the essence of what I am trying to say. And I keep thinking there might be a better way to phrase this and why can't the thesaurus give me a better choice of words.

Now here's the really sad part: I'm only on page 3!!

Light at the end of the tunnel...

I am officially hard at work on my thesis. I’ve decided to break the project down and refer to it as a ‘chapter,’ ‘introduction,’ or another term that does not specifically refer to it by name. Actually saying the word ‘thesis’ keeps reminding me that this will be the longest, hardest, yet most rewarding piece I will have ever written. Somehow refering to the individual components is not quite as intimidating!

That said, I’m in the midst of writing and have reached a bit of an impasse. My advisers have been most encouraging by exhorting me to, “chain yourself to your desk and write!” In the past, I would have wholeheartedly agreed with them, knowing no other way to conduct myself during the semester. My typical MO was to spend the majority of my time holed up in my room doing homework. But recent events with Mother have changed my outlook on life. I know I’m at the end of a very long academic road, but I don’t want to look back with regret. We only have the opportunity to live this life once, and I don’t want to let a moment go by.

My goal is to find a way to balance my academic perfectionism with living. I want to get out more socially and have time to goof off. These desires make it more difficult to convince myself to actually sit down and do the work required of me when life beckons! (I blame much of this on an acute case of advanced senioritis!) Christina and I were talking about our futures the other day, and I’m excited about mine. Post graduation is a blank slate right now, and I am okay with this because I know God has the perfect thing in store. However, before I get there I must complete this little task. For now, I will console myself with knowing there is light at the end of the tunnel. One hundred pages can’t be that difficult to write...right? :)

Gratefulness

I read this in my devotional this morning:

"Don't overlook God's gifts. Every sunrise represents yet another beautifully wrapped gift from God. Unwrap it; treasure it; use it; and give thanks to the Giver."

What a reminder!

Quoted from: Above All Else: Directions for Life by Dr. Criswell Freeman

Living Our Standard

The other night I was working on correcting a little wireless snafu I created and overheard part of a Christian television program. Jack Hayford was a guest and said something so profound that I felt compelled to share. He said, "Jesus did not call the church to lift the standard of righteousness; Jesus called the church to live the standard of righteousness." We are not called to condemn, backbite, judge, or intimidate people. As believers, Jesus called us to be the salt of the earth:

Matthew 5:12-14: 12 "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 13 You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."

This really made me re-think and possibly challenge the way modern Christianity chooses to conduct itself. If we do not live our faith/standard of righteousness why would anyone even be interested in joining a body that is known for condemnation? Instead of allowing ourselves to be swept along the current of griping and fault finding, I challenge us all to rise above this behavior. Let us live the standard imposed by Jesus and be an example to the world. When we make this our testimony, we can represent our Lord in love and show people what it truly means to be a Christian.

2008

Happy New Year, Everyone!